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About Xterra

The Xterra was the SUV for people who actually got their SUVs dirty. Launched for the 2000 model year on the bones of Nissan's Frontier pickup, it was boxy, affordable and unapologetically utilitarian, with a stepped roof, a gear basket on top and a first-aid kit bulging from the tailgate. Nissan sold it as an SUV for mountain bikers, kayakers and climbers, and for once the marketing matched the buyers who showed up at dealerships.

The second generation, introduced for 2005, grew larger and gained a stout 4.0-liter V6 and an off-road-focused Pro-4X version with locking rear differential. It was never refined, fuel-efficient or comfortable on the highway, and that was largely the point. Production for North America ended after 2015 as fuel-economy rules and crossover fashion caught up with it, and loyal owners kept their trucks running long after, swapping in lift kits, roof tents and bigger tires as the years rolled on.

Since then, prices for clean used Xterras have stayed stubbornly high, a sign of how much demand there is for simple, affordable off-roaders. The Toyota 4Runner, Ford Bronco, Jeep Wrangler and Toyota Land Cruiser have all thrived in that space, and the Xterra's absence has been a sore point for Nissan fans who watched rivals cash in. Nissan has signaled interest in returning to body-on-frame SUVs in America, and the Xterra name keeps surfacing in plans, rumors and unofficial renderings of what a revived model might look like. This page follows that comeback chatter, along with used-buying advice, restorations and builds of the original, and anything Nissan confirms about its 4x4 plans.